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Pjc  Call  of  tl)t 
5rcat  ^lliysiciau 

SARA  SEWARD  HOSPITAL 
ALLAHABAD,  INDIA 

Twenly-six  thousand  five  hundred  and  twenty-five  patients  treated  by  the  physicians  in  charge  of  the 
hospital  and  dispensary  at  Allahabad,  for  the  year  1901. 


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Cri)c  ^oarli  of  Jorrtffn  JUtosiong  of  tht  |)rc6bp= 
ttrian  Cj)urtl)  in  t!)c  SSnitrii  ^tatrs  of  America 

156  FIFTH  AVENUE  NEW  YORK  CITY 

The  Call  of  the  Great  Physician 


S^ARA  SEWARD,  hearing  the  call  of  the  Great 
|p  Physician,  gladly  obeyed  and  went  to  Allahabad, 
India,  as  a medical  missionary.  Allahabad  is 
^ situated  at  the  junction  of  the  sacred  rivers,  the 
Ganges  and  the  Jumna.  It  is  a city  of  nearly 
two  millions  of  inhabitants.  Sara  Seward  labored  long  and 
earnestly  in  this  city,  seeking  to  relieve  the  suffering  of  the 
body  while  she  was  leading  precious  souls  to  Jesus  Christ,  the 
Great  Physician.  She  died  a victim  to  cholera,  and  the  “ Sara 
Seward  Hospital  ” is  the  visible  monument  to  her  memory. 
The  invisible  monument  is  in  the  hearts  and  lives  of  thousands 
of  people  to  whom  she  came  as  an  angel  of  light.  The  hospital 
was  not  completed  till  a year  ago.  It  is  a beautiful  building, 
a picture  of  which  you  see  on  the  front  page. 

Other  godly  women  have  followed  in  the  footsteps  of  Sara 
Seward,  and  now  every  day  hundreds  of  patients  are  treated 
at  the  hospital  and  dispensary.  Early  in  the  morning  in  the 
operating-room  (see  photo)  the  physicians  and  nurses  and  the 
Christian  patients  meet,  kneel  on  the  hard  stone  floor  and  ask 
God’s  blessing  for  the  day’s  work.  The  patients  who  as- 
semble in  the  waiting-room,  awaiting  their  turn  to  see  the 
physician,  have  the  gospel  preached  to  them.  Each  prescrip- 
tion given  has  a Scripture  text  printed  upon  it.  No  patient 
stays  in  the  hospital  without  hearing  the  Word  of  God.  The 
atmosphere  of  the  hospital  is  Christian ; the  aim  is  not  only  to 
relieve  the  suffering  of  the  body,  but  to  heal  the  soul. 

Many  children  are  brought  to  the  hospital  and  dispensary. 
Before  being  admitted  they  must  be  cleaned  up  as  seen  in  the 


picture.  Last  j'ear 
fifty  famine  orphans 
were  cared  for.  Some 
of  these  were  so  weak 
and  sickly  when  thej’ 
came  that  ere  long 
they  died. 

There  are  beauti- 
ful homes  for  orphan 
children  at  Allaha- 
bad, at  Fatehgarh, 
at  E ta  wall,  and 
other  cities  near,  and 
when  sickness  comes 
the  missionary  physi- 
cLEANixG  UP.  cian  from  the  hospi- 

tal goes  to  aid  these 
little  sufferers,  or  they  are  brought  and  lovingly  cared  for 
in  this  most  beautiful  home  for  sick  ones. 

Often  the  patients  are  very  ill,  and  must  be  brought,  not  in 
an  ambulance,  as  in  America,  but  in  a jmrdah  dooly.  You 
see  a photograph  of 
one  in  the  picture. 

A dooly  is  like  a 
low  stool  s w u n g 
by  four  diverging 
sticks  from  a pole 
carried  on  the  shoul- 
ders of  two  men. 

Over  the  cage-like 
structure  swung 
from  the  pole  is  the 
jmrdah  or  curtain. 

Patients  are  carried 
a long  distance  in 
this  curious  basket-  now  patients  are  brought  to  the  hospital 
like  w a g o n . At  _a  purdah  dooly. 


3 


times  the  little  sufferers  find  the  journey  very  tiresome, 
but  the  good  physician  is  careful  to  have  many  pillows 
and  blankets,  so  that  the  jolting  will  be  as  little  as  possi- 
ble. It  is  sometimes  weeks  and  even  months  before  the  sick 
ones  can  leave  the  hospital  and  go  back  home.  During  this 
time  they  are  taught  the  gospel,  and  many  of  them  go  home 
not  merely  healed  of  their  bodily  disease,  but  with  the  love  of 
Christ  in  their  hearts. 

The  missionaiy  doctor  needs  much  help.  A year  ago  a 
training-school  for  nurses  was  organized,  and  now  there  are 
many  young  girls  who  are  being  trained  to  nurse  the  patients 
and  so  help  in  the  blessed  work. 

In  the  photograph  are  two  girls  who  are  being  trained  to 
take  their  places  as  nurses.  The  names  of  these  nurses  are 
Umrao  and  Cham- 
pa. The  history  of 
Champa  is  very  in- 
teresting.  Both 
of  these  girls  heard 
the  call  of  the  Great 
Physician.  Cham- 
pa, the  girl  on  the 
r i g h t,  is  a high- 
caste  Brahman. 

When  only  eight 
years  of  age  she  was 
compelled  by  her 
parents  to  be  mar- 
ried. At  twelve 
years  she  was  a 
mother.  She  went 
to  live,  as  is  the  cus- 
tom in  India,  with 
her  husband’s 
mother.  The  family 
were  very  poor.  Little  Champa  was  the  slave.  They  lived  in  a 
small  mud  house  of  two  rooms,  a verandah  and  a courtyard,  with 


several  boxes,  native  beds  and  cooking  utensils  as  tbe  only 
furniture.  Two  shrill  parrots  in  the  yard  added  to  the  noise 
of  the  women’s  quarreling.  Champa  was  scolded,  by  her 
mother-in-law,  tormented  b}"  her  sisters-in-law,  snubbed  by  all 
the  family,  including  her  husband.  He  was  a poor,  worthless 
fellow,  and  after  a time  left  home  to  become  a wandering  beggar. 
His  family  drove  her  from  the  house.  Never  before  had  she 
been  out  of  doors  alone.  She  first  thought  of  jumping  into  a 
well  and  drowning  herself.  A kind  missionary,  one  who  had 
heard  the  call  of  the  Great  Physician,  met  her  and  took  her  to 
the  hospital.  Champa  said  that  she  was  willing  to  become  a 
nurse.  The  doctor  set  her  to  work  making  ointment  in  which 
pig’s  fat  was  used.  Now  a pig  is  the  animal  much  hated  by 
high-caste  Hindus.  It  was  hard  work  for  Champa  to  con- 
trol her  feelings  as  she  toiled  away  with  that  lard.  She  would 
not  eat  with  the  rest  of  the  nurses  and  helpers  in  the  hospital, 
and  she  worshipped  her  idols — gods  of  stone,  brass  and  wood. 
The  godly  life  of  the  missionaries  and  their  loving  words  about 
Jesus  opened  her  heart.  One  day  some  of  the  friends  brought 
to  the  medical  missionary  some  candy.  She  shared  it  with  the 
others  in  the  hospital.  At  first  Champa  said — “ I cannot  eat 
it,  even  for  Christ’s  sake,  lest  I break  my  caste.”  Most  girls 
and  boys  in  America  find  candy  very  easy  to  eat,  but  for 
Champa  to  eat  candy  meant  giving  up  her  old  religion.  At 
last  she  turned,  the  tears  came  in  her  eyes,  she  took  the  candy 
and  ate  it,  and  then  besought  the  missionary  to  lead  her  to 
Jesus  Christ.  It  was  not  long  ere  she  was  baptized  and  boldly 
accepted  Christ  as  her  Saviour.  Now  she  is  in  the  Jumna 
High  School,  receiving  an  education  which  will  fit  her  better 
to  follow  the  call  of  the  Great  Physician.  She  hopes  to  be- 
come a nurse  in  the  Sara  Seward  Hospital. 

Much  work  has  to  be  done  by  the  nurses  and  helpers.  The 
laundry,  of  which  we  have  a picture,  is  on  the  banks  of  the 
river,  where  they  take  the  soiled  clothes  and  beat  them  till 
they  become  clean. 

All  the  patients,  who  are  able,  pay  a little  for  their  food  and 
medicine,  but  in  addition  they  are  very  grateful  for  the  kind- 

5 


ness  shown  to  them. 

Dr.  Bertha  T.  Cald- 
well, the  missionary 
now  in  charge  of  the 
hospital,  last  year  re- 
ceived many  presents 
from  the  patients, 
showing  their  grati- 
tude. One  woman 
brought  a dozen  eggs, 
all  of  which  were 
nearly  hatched.  A 
Mohammedan  chief 
of  police,  whose  wife 
had  been  cured  at 
the  hospital,  gave 
every  one  connected 
with  the  hospital  a 
gift  of  money  or  perfumer}^,  or  silk  handkerchiefs,  vases, 
pickles,  and  to  some  he  gave  a dish  called  chutney,  which  is 
a sort  of  sweet  fruit  pickle  with  lots  of  pepper  in  it. 

One  woman,  after  her  recovery  from  her  operation,  served 
the  doctor  with  tea,  stirring  the  sugar  into  the  tea  wdth  her 
finger  in  place  of  a spoon.  One  brought  a sick  chicken,  be- 
cause she  thought  the  doctor  might  be  able  to  cure  it.  Another, 
who  had  been  to  a wedding,  brought  little  bits  of  the  different 
kinds  of  food  served  at  the  wedding.  Others  wrote  letters, 
some  of  which  were  very  strange.  One  wrote:  “Honored 
Sir : I thank  you  first,  and  the  blessed  God  also,  that  you  have 
succeeded  in  making  my  wife  sneeze.  She  has  not  been  able 
to  have  a cold  for  ten  3"ears,  and  through  j’our  successful  and 
wonderful  treatment  she  is  now  able  to  sneeze  all  she  wishes 
to.  I cannot  find  words  to  express  mj’  gratitude,  as  life  is 
much  more  bearable  in  mj"  home  since  she  can  sneeze.  I shall 
ever  praj^  for  j-our  long  life  and  prospeidtj’.” 

There  are  patients  who  are  either  unwilling  to  leave  their 
home  or  who  are  too  ill  to  be  taken  to  the  doctor,  and  the  doctor 


HOSPITAL  LAUNDRY. 


visits  them.  She  goes  in  an  ekka.  (See  picture.)  The  ekka 
is  a two- wheeled,  one-horse,  often  springless  conveyance,  which 
also  has  a purdah,  or  curtain,  drawn  over  it,  in  front  of  which 
sits  the  driver,  with 
his  feet  hanging  at 
the  horse’s  tail,  and 
the  woman  or  other 
occupant  sits  on  the 
floor  of  the  vehicle 
inside.  It  is  not  easy 
riding,  but  the  faith- 
ful physician,  after  a 
long  day  in  the  hos- 
pital, will  ride  miles 
in  an  ekka  that  she 
may  relieve  the  suf- 
ferings of  some  poor 
Hindu  woman  and 
lead  her  to  put  her  trust  in  Jesus  Christ,  the  Great  Physician. 
Into  everj"  home  she  visits  she  takes  the  gospel  of  Christ.  The 
rooms  are  often  dark,  gloomy,  filthy  and  full  of  most  unpleas- 
ant odors,  but  because  the  missionary  has  heard  the  call  of  the 
Great  Physician  she  is  willing  to  bear  all  things,  and  endure 
all  things,  to  lead  others  to  Him.  Once  she  was  asked  by  a 
woman  to  givq  medicine  to  cure  her  sorrow  over  the  loss  of  an 
only  son.  The  poor  woman  had  been  on  long  and  weary  pil- 
grimages seeking  peace,  but  had  come  back  to  her  desolate 
home  with  a broken  heart.  The  gospel  is  the  only  medicine 
for  sorrow-stricken  souls.  At  times  she  goes  to  the  homes  of 
the  wealthy,  for,  alas ! they,  too,  need  the  Great  Physician  of 
the  soul. 

The  “Sara  Seward  Hospital”  is  only  one  of  twenty  hos- 
pitals and  dispensaries  in  India  under  the  care  of  the  Presby- 
byterian  Board.  India  is  only  one  of  many  countries  where 
our  medical  missionaries  have  gone,  obeying  the  call  of  the 
Great  Physician.  In  Africa  the  Board  has  five  hospitals  and 
•dispensaries;  in  China,  thirty -one;  in  Korea,  eight;  in  Persia, 

7 


six;  in  the  Philippine  Islands,  one;  in  Siam,  five;  in  Laos, 
five.  In  all  there  are  more  than  eighty  hospitals  and  dispen- 
saries, where  thousands  of  poor,  suffering  men,  women  and 
children  are  cared  for  by  the  medical  missionary  and  are  told 
of  the  Great  Physician.  No  work  in  the  world  is  more  Christ- 
like  than  that  which  is  done  by  these  devoted  followers  of  their 
Master. 

Is  it  not  a pleasure  to  help  in  such  a good  work  ? Have 
you  ever  heard  the  call  of  the  Great  Physician?  Would  you 
not  like  to  go  at  His  command  to  some  foreign  land  ? All  of 
us  cannot  go,  but  all  can  give  our  sympathy,  our  prayer  and  our 
money  to  make  known  to  the  dying  millions  that — 

“ The  Great  Physician  now  is  near, 

The  sympathizing  Jesus.” 


S.\KA  Sew.ard  Hospital  (kbak  view). 

Two  large  windows  on  second  floor  are  in  the  operating- 
room. 


“The  hospital  is  the  ripe  fruit  of  civilized  society,  and  the  crowning  glory  of 
religion.  The  very  best  thing  a man  can  do  in  this  world  is  to  help  his  brother  man 
in  distress.” — New  York  Evening  Post. 


Form  No.  8. 


